Foot-brake throttle control



Aug. 4, 1925. 1,548,565

- M. A. TAYLOR FOOT BRAKE THROTTLE CONTROL Filed July 14. 1924 vINVENTOR MELVIN A. TAYLOR Patented Aug. 4, 1925.

UNITED STATES MELVIN A. TAYLOR, OF OAKLAND, CALTFORNIA.

I FOOT-BRAKE THROTTLE CONTROL.

Application filed uly-14, 19241 Serial No. 725,820.

To all whom it mag concern.

Be it known that I, MELVIN-A. TAYLOR,

'nism for automobiles, which will render the vehicle easier to controlthan heretofore, and will insure smoothness of operation of the motor. pi V In carrying out this object the throttle valve is controlled throughthe medium of springs in opposition and under tension, so

- as to prevent vibration and minor-shocks from being transmitted to thethrottle valve. This insuresfsmooth' operation of the motor. Themechanism also includes a connection between the brake lever and thethrottle valve. This'connection is designed of the vehicle.

to close the throttle uponmo-vement of the brake. lever andprior tosetting-the brakes Bymy invention several advantageous results areobtained, namely, reducing. the

. number" of operations to' control the ma- 7 chine, evenness of speedobtained-by pre "msm;

vehicle. This motor is shown as equipped] ample in which:

venting vibration of the car from being transmittedto the throttlelever, and ease of operationof the gear shifting mecha- One form ofwhich the invention may assume is exemplified in the followingdescription "and illustrated by way of exthe accompanying drawinginThe'figure is a schematic view' of a por-'. tion of. the mechanism of anautomobile,

mechanism arranged thereon Referring more particularly to theaccompanying drawings-,TlO indicates an-intern'al combustion motor ofan. automotive with a carbureter 11,,the throat ofwhich is .connectedwith the intake manifold of the motor and controlled by a, butterflyvalve secured on a pivot-shaft 12. At the exterior of the carburet'erthis pivot shaft disclosing ,my improved throttle controlling beoperated to control the position of the throttle valve and therebyregulate the amount of fuel admitted to the intake mania fold'of themotor. The lower end of the throttle lever 14 is connected with the rearend of a push rod 15. of this rod ,is connected to one arm of a bellcrank lever 16. The other arm of this .AiEN W C is'fitted with athrottle lever 14 which may The forward end bell crank lever 16 isoperatively connected with the usual .gas'control lever on the steeringwheel of the vehicle through the usual mechanism. As this mechanism andgas control lever are standard on practically all automobiles. for ,thesake of simplicity they: are not illustrated.

The push rod 15 is slid'able in the end of the throttle lever 14 as thisconnection serves only as a support for the end of the push rod 15. p

I have provided a mechanism for preventing all vibration and minor roadshocks from being transmitted to the throttle lever Q14. This mechanismincludes a pair of tension springs 19 and 20,- the'adjacent ends ofwhichare connected with a collar 21 which is fixed on a"foot accelerator'rod17. The rod 17 is connected to the lower end of the throttle lever 14and extends up.

through the foot boards of the vehicle so that it may be-depressed toopen the throttle valve and feed the desired amount of,

gas to the intake {manifold of the motor. The spring v19 extends fromthe collar 21 to a slip collar .22 mountedon the push rod 15. This.collar 22 is adapted to bear against ,a set collar 23 fixed on therod15. The collar-'23 as shown in the drawings is positioned on therod'15'to maintain the spring 19under1tension. By adjusting the positionof the collar '23 the-tension of the spring 19 may be regulated. v :Thespring20 extends from the collar 21 to a fixedpoint on the vehicleframe. This spring ;is also maintained under tension greater than thatofthe' spring 19 so that it. Will constantly tend to maintain thethrottle closed, except when the gas lever on the.

steering .wheel of the vehicle is moved to place the ,throttle valve inopen position.

It is seen that when this .is done both the springs 19 and 20 will beplaced under tension and act as a resilient connection 'between the pushrod 15 and the throttle lever,-so as to absorb -all vibration of the carand minor road shocks, and prevent them from being transmitted to thethrottle lever 14. .This is advantageous as an even speed will beobtained, due to the fact that an even amount of gas will be fed to theintake manifold from the carbureter.

For closing thethrottle I have provided a connection between the upperend of the throttle lever 14 and the foot brake pedal of the automobile.This connection comprises a sleeve 25 which is pivoted at one 4 end tothe upper end of the throttle lever.

'The end of a push rod 26 is telescoped within the sleeve 25. The otherend of this rod is pivotally attached to the foot brake pedal.

A set collar 27 is fixed on the pushrod 26- and a compression spring 28is interposed between this set collar and the end of the sleeve 25. Thisspring is of suliicient tension to impart the first movement of the footpedal to the throttle lever 14 to close the throttle valve. When thethrottle valve hasing wheel and the foot brake. Such operation would beas follows:

' wishes to arrest the motion of the car, he

' thereon will move the throttle lever 14 ;to-

'For the purpose of illustration-it will be. assumed that the driver ofthe car wishes "to travel at an even speed of twenty miles an hour:After starting the'car at a slower speed the gas control. lever on thesteering Wheel is moved to feed sufficient gas to-the .motor so that thelatter will drive the car at the given speed. When driving at this' 1speed or any other speed the springs 19- and 20 will serve to absorb anyshocks or vibration and prevent them from being transmitted to thethrottle lever 14. By this means an even flowof gas will be deliveredfrom thecarbureter to the intake manifold of the motor and will causesmooth running. of the latter and insure even speed of the vehicle.

. Should it be desired to go faster than'the given speed withoutchanging the position of the handcontrol lever, thefoot acceleratorv rodmay be depressed to further o en the throttle valve. When the foot acceerator is released the car will again assume the given speed of twentymiles anhour, or

the speed for which the-hand control leveris set; y I

- If the driver is desirous of turning corner, shift gears, or for anyother reason merely depresses thefoot brake pedal. This operationthrough the rod 26 and the. spring close the throttle valve. If hedesires to merely depresses the clutch and stop the car he furtherdepresses -the foot brake pedal to set the brakes.

After stopping. it the car 1s again to be set into 1n0tion,the propergear reduction -is selected-and the clutch and brake pedal are releasedsimultaneously. The car will then gradually accelerate to the speeddesired, which it will maintain unless the foot accelerator is operatedto accelerate 1t momentarlly for maneuvering the car, or for any otherpurpose.

Among the advantages obtained by my improved throttle control are easeof speed control, saving in gasoline by preventing vibration and minorroad shocks from being imparted to the throttle valve, and even speedwhen the car 1s-1n motion. Also it control of a car; for instance,-whenstopping the driver does not have to shifthis vfoot fromthe acceleratorpedal tothe foot brake in close proximity to the brakepedal, and whendesiring to bring the car to a stop he brake pedal simultaneously.

It will be understood that various other arrangements of mechanism maybe substituted for that which I have shown and de-* scribed, withoutdeparting from the spirit of the invention as set forth in theappendedclaims.

Having thus described my invention, what I claim and desire to secure byLetters Pat entis.: v 1. In combination with a brake pedal leverminimizes the operations necessary to the pedal. It is only necessary tokeep his foot and the" throttle valve of an automobile, a. 7

control lever for operatin said throttle valve, a pushrod pivotallyconnected at one end to the brake lever. a sleeve pivotally' connectedatone end to the,control' lever,.and

slidablyreceiving the other end of the push rod,- an abutment on thepusl1;rod..and a compression springjinterposedbetween said abutmentandthe sleeve. whereby initial movement of the brake lever will closethe throttle valve'thr'ough the push rod spring and sleeve,- and furthermovement of the brake lever will set the brakes of the vehicle withoutafiectingthe' throttle valve.

2. A throttle control mechanism for an automobile having a throttlevalve, a throttle lever for' operating said throttle valve, an ax allymovable member for operating said throttle lever, and a pair of springsunder tension connected at adjacent ends to said axially movable memberand set in opposition to each other to absorb vibration andshockstransmitted to said axially movable member. 1

A throttle control mec'hanism for automobiles including alever forcontrolling the throttle valve, a movable member connected with saidcontrol lever for operating the throttle valve from a remote point, saidmember moving in substantially 'an axial path and adapted to reciprocateto open and close the throttle valve, a pair of springs under tensionconnected at their adjacent ends tov said movable member, and beingdisposed substantially parallel thereto and connected at their otherends to substantially fixed points in opposition to each other,

whereby they will yieldingly resist mo.ve-

l ment of the movable member in either direction, and will act to absorbvibration and minor shocks imparted to said movable member and to thecontrol lever.

4. A throttle control mechanism for automobiles, including a fulcrumlever for controlling the throttle valve of -the automobile,

a push rod slidably connected at one end to one end of said controllever, the other end of said push rod being connected with any inclinedgas control lever of the automobile, a .foot accelerator rod slidablyconnected at its lower end to said control lever at a point adjacent thepush rod, a pair of tenslon springs under tension attached at their adjacent ends to said foot accelerator rod and placed in opposition toeach other, one of said springs being connected with said push .rod andthe other with a stationary point on the automobile, whereby movement ofsaid push rod will be transmitted through the medium of said springs andsaid accelerator rod to said-control levcr,-the movementof said footaccelerator rod being .resisted by said springs whereby vibration andminor shocks transmitted to said ac celerator rod will be absorbed bysaid springs. 5. A throttle control mechanism for automobiles, includinga fulcrum lever for controlling the throttle valve .of the automobile,

a push rod slidably connected at one end to oneend of said controllever, the other end of said push rod being connected vwith an Iinclined gas control lever of the automobile, a foot accelerator rodslidably connected at its lower end to said control lever at a pointadjacent the push rod. a pair of tension springs under tensionattachedat their adjacentends to said foot accelerator rod and springsbeing connected with said push rod and the other with a stationary pointon the rod will be transmitted through the medium of said springs andsaid accelerator rod to Said control lever, foot accplerator rod-beingresisted said springs, whereby vibration and minor shocks transmitted tosaid accelerator rod will be absorbed by said spring and a connectionbetween the other end of the control lever, and the brake lever of theautomobile, whereby initial movement of said brake lever in onedirection will close said throttle valve.

6? A. throttle control mechanism for automobiles, including a fulcrumlever for controlling the throttle valve a push rod slidably connectedat one end to one end of said control lever, the other end of said pushrod being connected with an inclined gas control lever of theautomobile, a foot accelerator rod slidably connected at its lower endto said control-lever at a point adjacent the push rod, a pair oftension springs under tension attached at their adjacent ends to saidfoot accelerator rod and placed in opposition to each other, one of saidsprings being connected. with said push rod and the other with astationary point on the automobile whereby movement of said puslr rodwill be transmitted through the medlum of sald springs and saidaccelerator rod to said control lever. the movement of said footaccelerator rod being resisted by said springs whereby vibration andminor shocks transmitted to said accelerator rod will be absorbed bysaid springs, and a connection between the other end of the controllever and the brake lever "of the automobile, whereby the initialmovement of said brake lever in one direction will close said throttlevalve, said connection comprising a push rod pivotally attached at oneend to said brake lever and slidably connected with the control lever atthe other end, an abutment on the push rod, and a compression springinterposed between said control lever and said abutment.

MELVIN VA. TAYLOR.

the movement of said.

automobile, whereby movement ofs'aid push of-th'e automobile,

